Just about everything I've read says you are not right, sir Willie. Wet earth will absorb more heat than dry frozen earth. I buried my thermopex 18" deep through my yard and 24" under my drive. There is never any evidence of thermal loss where my line is buried. My friend at work buried his the same day as I did- only he went down 6'-and he hit water-and he buried it that way anyway. During very cold spells, neither of us have any evidence of heat loss based on ground appearance. However, when it thaws after a long, heavy frost, you can track exactly where he buried his pipe-especially where he dug the trench the deepest(that was funny watching him run a mini excavator for the first time). There is no evidence that I even have buried pipe in my yard or driveway. We have both spent a lot of time shooting the temperatures of our supply lines, as well as our return lines. He looses close to a half degree more on each trip than I do. I have 25' more buried than he does. Not a lot of loss, I'm sure, but none the less, losses. It might not amount to even 1/3 cord in a year. I wouldn't have any idea how to do that math.
A few manufacturers that I spoke with at the ag show in KY said they'd rather see you lay the insulated pex on top of the frozen ground than bury it in water. CB even shows hurried installs where pipe is temporarily ran on top of the ground with virtually no losses.
I think that burying deep in wet earth won't net that much more loss,if any,than burying in the frost when it's very cold. However, until the frost has penetrated down to the 18" mark, and also after the frost is gone, I'm willing to bet that dry earth will leach much less heat from insulated pex than wet earth. In fact, I'd bet you a steak dinner and a Budwiser on it. Just think dry insulation vs wet.
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Topic: water lines submerged (Read 9262 times)